How Do You Collect Runes in Elden Ring?
In FromSoftware's 2022 Game of the Year-winning Soulslike, Runes are essential for levelling up your Tarnished. They're also used to purchase useful equipment from NPC vendors and unique items from boss Remembrances.
One of the best ways to earn elden ring runes early on is by using this farming spot shown off by YouTuber PowerPyx. It's easy, fast, and only takes a few minutes.
Buy Runes
You can usually get all the runes you need through normal play, but occasionally you'll want to farm for a big level boost or to upgrade some high-level gear. There are a few places to do this, though some of them are risky for new players.
For example, the hairy trolls that populate the cliffs north of Stormgate each drop about 1000 runes when killed. If you're a little overleveled for them, though, you can take advantage of the Sacred Relic Sword, which has an area-of-effect attack that can quickly clear them out, or the Golden Scarab Talisman, which boosts the amount of runes you get per kill.
One of the safest and most reliable rune farming spots is the Windmill Village. The villagers here are under some sort of mystical spell, which means they're completely oblivious to your presence and will not react when you attack them. They're also worth around 2,000 runes each, which isn't too bad for a few minutes of combat.
Farm Runes
While you can earn elden ring runes through fighting foes and bosses in Elden Ring, you can also farm them if you need to quickly reach a level or buy a big boost item. There are a few different ways to do this, but one of the best and easiest is to just help out other players in Coop. This can be a bit time-consuming, but it's completely risk-free and doesn't break any quests, as long as you don't kill the host player.
There are two main rune farming spots in elden ring runes, the first is an early game spot you can access after unlocking Torrent and getting to Limgrave. The second is a higher level spot in Mohgwyn Palace that you can access after beating the Lord of Blood and unlocking Raya Lucaria in Liurnia of the Lakes. This later game spot is a little more involved, but it's still worth it as it will get you up to a max level in no time.
Craft Runes
There are two ways to earn runes in Elden Ring: killing foes and levelling up your character. The latter requires a lot of runes and takes a while to level up because you need to smith weapons as well as kill enemies.
One way is to level up your weapon with the Sacred Relic Sword, which boosts rune acquisition by 20%. The other is to farm runes. Thankfully, there are several farming spots that can be found in the game.
One is near the Warmaster’s Shack Site of Grace in Caelid. There are five deadly Troll Warriors there that can drop a lot of runes once defeated. They’re a bit tough for low-level characters but they have a predictable attack pattern, and you can easily backstab them to get them down quickly. There are also some Gold Leaves scattered around the area that can be shattered to recoup even more runes. This farming spot is available early on but can be difficult to find when you’re first starting the game.
Sell Runes
While it’s not ideal to buy in-game items for real money, many players do so anyway. This is expressly against the terms of service for the game and Bandai Namco will give you warnings, delete your data, or even ban you if you’re caught doing it.
There are plenty of places to sell elden ring runes, including a few that can be accessed early on. The Windmill Village, for instance, gives off a Midsommar vibe as its villagers dance around oblivious to your presence and are a total breeze to kill.
Similarly, the dragon-burnt ruins south of Lake Agheel are another great spot to sell your goods. The diminutive statue-looking warriors are easy to kill at almost any level and they’ll stagger when they’re hit, allowing you to perform a critical attack from behind. This will defeat them straight up or at least knock off a chunk of their health. This will yield a nice batch of runes for you to sell.